1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and article of manufacture for converting backup copies of objects created using a first backup program to backup copies created using a second backup program.
2. Description of the Related Art
When creating a backup copy of an object, a vendor backup and recovery software product typically creates a proprietary backup copy that can only be recovered by the product that created the backup copy. To migrate from one backup product to another, the backup copies created using the existing product need to be converted to the format of the new product.
One technique for converting backup copies created using a currently deployed backup program for use with a new backup program involves using the current backup program to restore the backup copies for each object, beginning with the oldest, with a new name that varies from the original object name from which the backup copies were created using the current backup program. The original object is temporarily renamed. For each restored backup copy, beginning with the oldest, the restored copy is renamed to the original name of the object and a backup copy of the restored object is created with the new backup program. The restored copy is then deleted. After all the copies have been processed, the original object is renamed back to the original object name. With this described technique, the original object is unavailable during the time that the object has the temporary name and the new backup copies are being created.
Another technique for converting backup copies created using a current backup program for use by a new backup program involves restoring each backup copy for an object with a new name, i.e., one that varies from the original object name. For each restored backup copy, beginning with the oldest, a backup copy is created using the new backup program and the new backup program inventory for that backup copy is updated to indicate that the backup copy is for the original object name as opposed to the temporary name to which the backup copy was restored. The restored copy is then deleted. During this restore process, the meta-data stored in the internal structure of the backup copy represents the restored object's temporary name instead of the original name. This problem is typically addressed at the time of restoring the backup copy having the temporary object name using the new backup program.
There is a need in the art for improved techniques for converting a backup copy created from a first backup program to a backup copy for use with a second backup program.